Most people don't realize it but your professor is absolutely right! It's something I realized as a rapping producer many many years go, and is why when I write my rhymes now I will usually do my cadence first and then fit the words to it. It's the exact same way how MOST people hear the track first, hooks second, then lyrics. They will hear and be drawn to the cadence (syncopation) before they are drawn to the lyrics.
If you want proof of what the professor is saying all you have to do is examine Rap syncopation from the Old School and how it progresses to the New. The simple Old School cadences that just about everybody uses are gradually replaced by more complex cadences that vary from rapper to rapper. The rappers that most consider the dopest are the ones who's flow (cadence) is most unique. What is more, in the Old School the cadences didn't vary with the beat, but it has evolved into an artform that the illest rappers understand, different beat, different flow.
Examine it again, you'll see that the professor is absolutely right. If you're a rapper, learn from it, it will make you even better than you already are. Actually, some of you probably already know it without even realizing it.
:smart: