Straight Edge refers to a life term commitment that started within the hardcore punk subculture, It is a lifetime promise to one's self, an oath to refrain from drinking alcohol, using tobacco products, taking recreational drugs, and having promiscuous sex. The term was coined by the early 1980s hardcore punk singer Ian Mackaye, from the Washington D.C. band Minor Threat with the song titled "Straight Edge." Straight Edge Hardcore is the music of this subculture, which also identifies with the XXX or X as the representative symbol of the Straight Edge.