Here is how I did it with the 23.2.0 RecyclerView.
TextView textView = new TextView(getActivity());
textView.setLayoutParams(new ViewGroup.LayoutParams(ViewGroup.LayoutParams.MATCH_PARENT, ViewGroup.LayoutParams.WRAP_CONTENT));
textView.setText("GO SYNC CONTACTS!!!!!");
textView.setTextSize(30);
Then I add this view to the first position of my RecyclerView in adapter.
Turns out there's a big empty space of this TextView. Other views which are inflated by XML works just fine.