In Haiti and France, Emeline Michel has long been known as a pop star and songwriter with a supple voice and a strong social conscience. Her eighth album, "Rasin Kreyol" (Times Square), places her hopes and worries about Haiti in sleek pop arrangements that stay rooted in rhythms from across that country. She merges modern funk with the easygoing compas and the galloping carnival beat of rara, so her earnest messages arrvie in joyful grooves. And in songs like "Mon Reve" -- with a voodoo drumbeat, a breathy Guinean-style flute and Ms. Michel's mostly wordless voice -- her idealism rings out.