Play video content Breaking News 3/9/19 TMZ.com

R. Kelly's back on the streets after finally covering his unpaid child support.

The singer forked over the $161,633 he owes to ex-wife, Drea Kelly, and was released Saturday morning from Cook County Jail. As he walked out, Kelly said, "I promise we're gonna straighten all this out. That's all I can say right now. I love my fans."

Interestingly, he did have fans screaming for him outside ... including one woman who yelled, "Please touch my hand!"

Sources connected to Kelly tell us he scraped together the money with help from a "benefactor."

As we reported ... R. Kelly was arrested Wednesday when he missed the deadline to settle up his back child support. During his CBS interview, he blamed his ex for his failure to pay her ... claiming her "lies" about abuse are the reason he can't make any money.

He also claims he's trying to reconnect with his 3 kids, but sources close to the situation say that's BS ... he hasn't even reached out to his family in nearly 2 years.

Kelly's legal woes are just getting started. As you know, he's still facing 10 counts of aggravated sexual abuse in Chicago, multiple federal investigations ... and new sexual misconduct allegations in Detroit.

As we've reported ... the feds are looking into whether R. Kelly violated the Mann Act, which prohibits transportation of minors across state lines for purpose of sex or debauchery. Attorney Michael Avenatti now says he has evidence to nail R. Kelly for that too.

Our investigation has now uncovered significant additional evidence that R Kelly and his handlers transported underage girls across state lines for the purpose of allowing him to sexually assault them. We will be turning over the evidence to law enforcement forthwith. @MichaelAvenatti