Will Foxy Brown continue to remain as tough as nails?

A July 17 trial date was set Friday in the assault case the platinum-selling rapper has been embroiled in for nearly two years.

The 26-year-old Brown, whose real name is Inga Marchand, was charged with misdemeanor assault last year for allegedly attacking two New York manicurists in 2004 after arguing with them over her bill. According to reports, Brown judged that her nails weren?t "Stylin'" enough and refused to pay a $20 tab. She supposedly decided that the better idea would be to smack the salon's manager and skedaddle.

The alleged victims, Myoung Yi and Sun Ji Song, have said that Brown simply arrived too close to closing time to fit in a manicure and that she had been billed fairly for the pedicure she received.

While Brown's attorney has admitted that some incident did occur that day, Aug. 29, 2004, he said that his client is maintaining her innocence of any assault.

The Broken Silence rapper has stuck to her guns, pleading not guilty in April 2005, turning down plea deals in May and August of 2005 and nearly getting herself thrown in the slammer during a hearing in late December (during which she had been scheduled to plead guilty to a misdemeanor) after the judge determined the defendant had been making faces in her courtroom.

"I don?t like her attitude," Judge Melissa Jackson told Brown?s lawyer, Joseph Fleming, ordering a court officer to handcuff Brown to a bench for 15 minutes. When Brown was then accused of hitting the officer who cuffed her, Assistant District Attorney Gary Galperin told Brown that she could either apologize or serve 30 days in jail for contempt.

Perhaps the thought of spending Christmas behind bars was enough to make Brown respectfully apologize on the spot.

Friday?s court hearing went off without a hitch, considering all the hitches that came before it. Manhattan Criminal Court Judge Gerald Harris set the July court date and extended an order of protection for the nail salon workers, in case the orange sticks start flying again.