OTOH Paul McCartney gave a really eloquent explanation of how musci can be modulated in frequency (melody) or time (beat) - and how Rap modulates time - not unlike many classical examples. he drew a lot of parallels to timing changes in classical.
Now, much popular music post WW2 is really poetry. So, you need to look at it thru those two lenses. I'm surprised at Ray' comment. I wonder what the context was.
G