As a street artist, he took the name "elSeed" from the French play, "Le Cid," which his teacher was reading to his class in school. The name, El Cid, in turn, is based on the Arabic term, "Al Sayed", which means "the man." He cites the 2011 Tunisian Revolution as a major factor in the opening of political space to alternate forms of expression. "The revolution pushed people to be more creative because before they were scared – and now they have more freedom."