2009–2010: Rising popularity and Lucifer

In early February 2009, Shinee won the "Best Newcomer" award along with Davichi and Mighty Mouth at the 18th Seoul Music Awards.[25] Shinee's second extended play, Romeo, was released on May 25.[26][27][28] Its lead single, "Juliette", was released earlier on May 18.[26] The song is an instrumental remake of Corbin Bleu's "Deal with It".[29] Shinee had their first stage performance for the song on KBS's Music Bank in June, 2009, where the group also received the award for the first place.[30]

Shinee released their third extended play, 2009, Year Of Us, on October 19, 2009.[31][32] The lead single, "Ring Ding Dong", was released digitally on October 14[33] and charted atop of several Korean music charts and gained popularity all over Asia.[34] In early December 2009, the group was also awarded with the "Popularity" award along with Super Junior at the 24th Golden Disk Awards.[35]

On July 19, 2010 the group released their second full length studio album, Lucifer,[36] which topped various physical and digital sales charts in South Korea.[37] The songs on the album "were more carefully selected than ever," and the album is said to "[give] listeners a great chance to experience the diverse musical characters and more mature vocal skills of the members."[38] The group made their comeback on July 23, 2010 at KBS Music Bank.[39] For its outstanding choreography, "Lucifer", was nominated for the Best Dance Performance Award at the Mnet Asian Music Awards.[40] Lucifer became the 6th best-selling album of 2010 in South Korea, selling over 120,000 copies.[41] In October, 2010, the album was re-released under the title Hello.[42] Amidst their promotional activities for the second studio album, the group also participated in the SMTown Live '10 World Tour on August 21, 2010.[43][44][45] On December 26, 2010, Shinee commenced their first concert tour, Shinee World, at Yoyogi National Gymnasium in Tokyo. The event was attended by approximately 24,000 people.[46]