Hsissen was born at 15 rue Monthabor in the Casbah of Algiers to a modest family, originally from Maâtkas (Tizi Ouzou Province).

Hsissen combined his love of music with activism with the Movement for the Triumph of Democratic Liberties and the National Liberation Front.

Hsissen died in Tunis on September 29, 1958, after a long bout of lung disease.

His remains were re-interred in his homeland on September 29, 2012, in the commemoration of the 54th year of his death.

This coincided with the fiftieth anniversary of the independence of Algeria.