On the surface Rani G. Whitfield, M.D. is a board certified family physician with a Certificate of Added Qualification in sports medicine. His interests and practical understanding of community and people, though, suggests he’s something of a renaissance man. As a physician, Dr. Whitfield has performed (on an annual basis) more than 200 pre-participation physicals each year – with or without insurance. As a lecturer and educator, he has willingly traveled across the country to various universities, secondary schools and the like, in an effort to address the many ailments and health related issues that affect the community. And as a rapper/philanthropist AKA Tha Hip Hop Doc, he’s appeared on CNN and traveled as far as Uganda to carry out his popular message of “getting hip hop healthy.” “Going to Uganda was interesting,” Dr. Whitfield recounts. “They wanted to know how we have all these resources, medicine, etc. and our people still die from the same illnesses they die from – particularly HIV, homicide and suicide. It was really life changing.” It’s that kind of impact that drives Dr. Whitfield to further heights and partly what inspired his latest project Get On Tha Bus (featuring Love-N-Pain). An album resplendent with optimism, GOTB addresses both mental and physical health issues such as reading, bullying, childhood obesity, HIV, texting and driving, prescription drug abuse, teenage drinking, heart disease, and fatherhood – all of which children and young adults can identify with. A follow up to 2010’s My Life Is In Your Hands (featuring Dee-1), Get On Tha Bus boasts a bevy of features including Justin Garner, Angel Victoria, Shaun Andrew, as well as poets Nayyir Ransome and Toiryan Milligan. As evidence of the album’s overwhelming potential, “Pretty In Pink,” the lead video/single, earned more than 76,000 views on YouTube in less than two weeks. When he’s not in the booth or in his office, Dr. Whitfield continues his polymathic pace in and around his native Baton Rouge. He’s currently participating in a program entitled “Real Men Read,” which he attends regularly, recently agreed to bolster his “Medical Moment” series on WEMX Max 94.1 FM to more than 20 spots a month and serves as team doctor to a local community college basketball team.