Did Ray J start the Lim Kim & Nicki Minaj Beef?

Earlier this year, at a Lil Kim show in New York, the whole Nicki Minaj/Lil Kim beef literally started when Ray J jumped on the mic and said “I’m seeing a lot of Lil Kim imposters, I ain’t saying no names but you know who“. Lil Kim added “We love her, we just want her to pay homage. If you don’t pay homage, then f**k you“. Over the next few weeks, there was an exchange of words between Drake and Lil Kim and the beef was taken to another level.
While appearing on Power 105.1 FM’s New Morning show “The Breakfast Club” recently, Ray J sort of denied that he was responsible for starting the beef between Lil Kim and Nicki Minaj. When Charlamagne claimed that Ray J started the beef and then left Lil Kim stranded by herself, he responded:

I’m reaching out to the whole world….to the whole hip hop community because that’s just how I felt at the time. Never once did I mention anybody. That’s what you do in hip hop, you throw it out there, you have a little friendly competition..it is what it is.

He also shared how he currently feels about Nicki Minaj and who he felt was better between Nicki Minaj and Lil Kim:

I like Nicki Minaj. I don’t [have her album] but my sister is like the number one Nicki Minaj fan.
Who’s Better Lil Kim or Nicki Minaj?
I got to pay my respects to Kim and truly say after listening to a lot of the stuff Nicki has done, I’m very impressed. I’m very impressed. From how I felt in the beginning until now…night and day…I love what she’s doing and I can be a man and just say at first I was cool, it was alright then it started getting better, now its just really on point.