This is another good point, some things you can’t get around memorizing. I also grew up in an environment where I learned to loath rote memorization. But some things are impossible without a bunch of memorization work. I tried DJing for a bit and it’s just a fact the better you have songs memorized and lots of them the better you’ll be at it. The best DJs I’ve met have a memory of at least the structure of thousands of tracks.