In a statement by Tee Grizzley, he explained the significance of the album title, by stating:
My whole life I saw everybody else get shine. I saw everybody else get money, everybody else wanted to rap. I saw them getting record deals and stuff like that. Every time I saw that it was, 'Damn, I can't wait until my time. My time is coming'. I was so patient and I finally got my time. I finally got my money, I finally got my fans and plaques, and my moment. When I got my moment, that’s when I Activated.[3]
In another statement the rapper explained the potential impact of the album, by stating:
I feel like Activated is going to be bad for a lot of rappers because they're not going to be able to get by with all the BS they've been getting away with. I really hope that they enjoy themselves and have fun and get their shine on because when Activated drops, it's over with.[4]
On April 17, 2018, Tee Grizzley was featured on Zane Lowe's Beats 1 Radio show, in which he revealed some of the guests slated to appear on the album, along with the album's release date.[5]
Singles
The album's lead single, "Colors", was released for digital download on February 2, 2018, along with the Nick Margetic and Everett Stewart-directed music video.[6] The song was produced by Helluva.
The album's second single, "Don't Even Trip" featuring Moneybagg Yo, was released on March 14, 2018.[7] The song was produced by Chopsquad DJ. The Everett Stewart-directed music video was released on April 18, 2018.[8]
Promotional singles
The album's first promotional single, "2 Vaults" featuring Lil Yachty was released on March 15, 2018.[9] The song was produced by London on da Track. The album's second promotional single, "Fuck It Off" featuring Chris Brown was released on May 4, 2018.[10] The song was produced by Helluva.
Commercial performance
Activated debuted at number 10 on the US Billboard 200 chart, earning 27,000 album-equivalent units (including 4,000 copies of pure album sales) in its first week.[11] This became Tee Grizzley's first US top 10 album.[11]