One title, two release moments
Little Mix’s “Hair” has two legitimate dates attached to it, and confusing them obscures the song’s unusually effective evolution. The original group-only recording was released on August 28, 2015 as the first promotional track from Get Weird. It was not yet the album’s fourth official single and did not initially feature Sean Paul.
The album followed on November 6. Metacritic’s release record lists “Hair” as track five, while the detailed MusicBrainz release entry documents the four members—Perrie Edwards, Jesy Nelson, Leigh-Anne Pinnock and Jade Thirlwall—on vocals. The first release was therefore neither a leak nor a mislabeled collaboration. It was an authorized preview available during the album campaign.
Seven months later, Little Mix announced a revised “Hair” featuring Jamaican dancehall star Sean Paul. That version arrived digitally on April 15, 2016 and became the fourth single from Get Weird. Teen Vogue’s contemporary report noted that Paul’s verse had been released the preceding Friday before the video appeared on April 20. The dates describe successive stages of one song: promotional original, album track, then guest-assisted single.
The writers and makers behind the hook
The original song is credited to Edvard Førre Erfjord and Henrik Michelsen—the Norwegian production duo Electric—alongside Iain James, Anita Blay and Camille Purcell. Blay is better known as the artist CocknBullKid, while Purcell later established a prominent performing career as Kamille. Sean Paul received an additional writing credit on the remix for his new passage.
MusicBrainz’s album documentation credits Electric and Maegan Cottone as producers of the original recording, with Sam Ellison as assistant producer. Erfjord and Michelsen handled instruments and programming; Chris Bishop and Electric are named as engineers, Wez Clarke as mixer, and the four Little Mix members as vocalists. These credits are more dependable than abbreviated lists that assign every aspect simply to Electric.
The production is built for physical emphasis. A heavy, spring-loaded low end answers clipped percussion, while group chants and rapidly traded leads make the record feel communal. The chorus transforms a familiar expression—getting someone out of one’s head—into the literal action of removing him from one’s hair. It is an intentionally cartoon-bright metaphor, matched by vocal arrangements that snap from solo complaint into collective decision.
Critics heard that personality immediately. NME’s Get Weird review singled out “Hair” among the album’s forceful kiss-offs, while The Independent praised how its vocal arrangement “pop[s] and crackle[s].” The song’s craft lies in making the breakup less a private wound than an activity friends can complete together.
Why Sean Paul changed the record
Sean Paul’s presence did not merely add a famous name. His section supplies the absent partner’s perspective, turning a one-sided dismissal into a miniature argument. His rhythmic phrasing also breaks the original’s tightly stacked pop structure. Little Mix sound like friends reaching consensus; Paul arrives remotely, trying to disrupt it.
That dramatic role becomes clearest in the video. Directed by Director X, the clip places the quartet in an extravagant but recognizable girls’ night: takeaway food, dancing, teasing, phone calls and a late-night debrief. Paul appears through a video call rather than sharing their physical space. Promonews’ production entry describes the scene as a spontaneous slumber party organized around escaping a noncommittal man.
The separation is narratively useful. He is trapped inside the phone while friendship occupies the room. Leigh-Anne’s interaction with his screen gives the remix a focal relationship, but the other members’ reactions keep the emotional authority with the group. CBS’s report on the premiere likewise emphasized the sleepover premise and Paul’s remote appearance.
As musical interpretation, the video recasts grooming as recovery. Hair is not presented primarily as a beauty standard imposed from outside; changing it becomes a playful sign that the women are reclaiming attention and time. The concept is simple enough for comedy, but it also captures how breakup rituals often work: friends turn a painful decision into a shared performance until it feels real.
The chart story confirms the second life
The original promotional release produced a brief UK chart appearance in September 2015, debuting at number 35 before falling away. The full campaign began after the remix. The authoritative Official Charts Company archive records a new run starting in late April 2016 and a peak of number 11 on the Official Singles Chart dated May 19. It ultimately spent 24 weeks in the Top 100 across its two runs, including seven weeks inside the Top 20.
Those figures explain why “Hair” is remembered chiefly in its Sean Paul form even though the original preceded it by months. The remix supplied renewed distribution and publicity; Director X’s video gave the song a durable visual identity; and the group were already touring a successful album. In Australia, the record eventually became another top-ten single for Little Mix, with ARIA noting in July 2016 that it had risen into that bracket.
The UK number 11 peak can sometimes look disappointing beside Little Mix’s chart-toppers. Longevity tells a fuller story. “Hair” remained present through the summer rather than arriving at a high position and immediately vanishing. Its continued streams also made it one of Get Weird’s most recognizable tracks, particularly outside the United Kingdom.
A distinctly Little Mix breakup song
“Hair” belongs to a central Little Mix tradition: translating romantic frustration into ensemble solidarity. The verses allow individual personalities and vocal colors to register, but the hook only reaches full force when it becomes collective. That structure differentiates the song from the solitary revenge ballad. The ex is less important than the friends helping remove his influence.
The humor is equally important. Get Weird often pursued maximal, knowingly theatrical pop rather than solemn credibility. AllMusic’s album assessment places the record between bright 1980s pop and contemporary R&B, a useful description of “Hair’s” combination of outsized chant, modern programming and tightly arranged vocals. Its cheekiness is not a distraction from the breakup message; it is the coping mechanism.
The track also captures the original quartet’s complementary strengths. Perrie supplies muscular climaxes, Jade brings precision and a sly dramatic edge, Leigh-Anne adds rhythmic attack, and Jesy’s darker tone gives the arrangement weight. The distribution of lines makes the group itself the production’s primary instrument.
The date that best represents “Hair”
April 15, 2016 is the date of the hit remix, and April 20 marks the video premiere. Yet August 28, 2015 remains the historically correct publication date for the exact composition’s first verified public release. Using the later date without explanation would erase the original Little Mix-only track and misidentify Sean Paul as part of the song from its inception.
The best account preserves all three milestones: authorized promotional release on August 28; inclusion on Get Weird on November 6; and conversion into a formal single through the Sean Paul remix on April 15, 2016. The official video arrived five days after that remix.
Nothing about “Hair” was leaked or unofficial. Its confusing chronology reflects a deliberate pop strategy: test a strong album preview, then return to it after other singles with a structural change and a vivid visual concept. That second life turned a cheeky pre-album download into something larger—a breakup ritual designed to be sung by a roomful of friends.