Exported Playlists missing, despite being on Device Library

tl;dr the title: i open a playlist through the "playlist" tab and I see a playlist that i imported into rekordbox and supposedly exported to my performance USB. The problem is that all the songs there are missing. I open my performance USB through the "device library" and its working just fine. 

additional context:

1. i fixed my music library and basically wiped my old USB and put it into an external harddrive (which includes non-music files).

2. I reorganized my music into 2 music dump folders. 

3. I open rekordbox and I export the 2 folders into my performance USB (while both drives are plugged in). (since I dont know what import does... i also import it to be sure). Note: the performance USB is the authenticated device

4. with only my performance USB plugged in, I open rekordbox again and when I try to open my playlist all the files are missing. Not even when I make an intelligent playlist. 

5. I cant find the playlists in the Explorer tab or looking straight into my USB's files.

6. I open the section where the "Device Library/Device Library Plus" is and my playlists are there. I can play the music just fine from there. Still can't use the playlist