Dead spirit to rap (4)
I believe the answer is:
drum
'to rap' is the definition.
(I've seen this before)
'dead spirit' is the wordplay.
'dead' becomes 'd' (abbreviation in government records).
'spirit' becomes 'rum' (alcoholic spirit).
'd'+'rum'='DRUM'
(Other definitions for drum that I've seen before include "Empty" , "Large barrel" , "Musical instrument" , "beat" , "(Revolving) cylinder" .)